


Free

by I_Snort_Matcha



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Artist Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), College Student Eren Yeager, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 03:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20901173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Snort_Matcha/pseuds/I_Snort_Matcha
Summary: Eren falls in love with a painting.





	Free

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ZWorld](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZWorld/gifts).

> Hey Roxi :) Consider this your first birthday gift. I'm hoping to spoil you more because I love you so damn much. Happy early birthday <3 You're the best person ever and you deserve the world.

It would always be one of my favorite paintings. One that would haunt me in my dreams, come to the front of my mind and remind me of the man that stares back to nothing. A self portrait of the artist Levi Ackerman, a man long passed, but always in the back of my mind. No one could ever compare to someone that I could build up in my own mind, which was the main reason all of my relationships ended. No one could ever take my heart away from the man in the painting.

I worked the graveyard shift for an art museum, doing security to watch over the paintings and make sure they were kept safe. Not that anyone would bother to break in anyway, the nearest police station was two blocks away, they would arrive in a minute. It would be asinine to even attempt a robbery, which meant the job was just perfect for me.

My first year of college, I moved to a strange city to try and get as far away from my memories as I could. My home town left in the past, along with the ghosts that would ruin my life if I stayed there any longer. Hundreds of miles away and I still never felt like I could ever truly escape.

Only a few more months and I would be finished, a degree in my pocket, and hardly any willingness to move onto the next part of my life.

My flashlight led me through my hourly walks, something that I could walk with my eyes closed by now if I wanted to. It was the same way I walked every night, through the first floor with the changing displays, then upstairs to the classic paintings. I never cared much for art, it was a wonder I’d even gotten hired for the position when I applied, most art students would kill for the chance to work there. I was just someone getting a shitty business degree and learning Romanian. Maybe moving near Bran Castle could bring me closer to my ultimate demise. That the stories of darkness there could whisk me away for good, to kill the nightmares, to end my suffering. Because I’m far too much of a coward to take care of the job myself.

I stopped in front of Levi, my flashlight shining over the man I’ve come to adore. His gaze was always so welcoming to me, filled with a kindness I’ve never found in another person. And although his expression was flat, uncaring, you could see from the slight angle of his lips, and the shine in his eye, that he was about to smile at you. Something that felt so rare, so special, and that if you blink you might just miss it.

Levi sat at his table, as always, a mug of tea in his hand with steam rising up in the early morning sun. He looked like he hadn’t slept well in years, bags under hung under his eyes carrying the weight of the world with them, yet his hair was pristine as if he’d never made it to bed. His light gray button up shirt showed no wrinkles, his white trousers spotless like they were brand new, and the cravat around his neck looked softer than silk.

Sometimes I would stand here, staring at his painting, and wish I could touch him. To feel his smooth skin beneath my fingertips, to trace over his lips and feel his smile, just before I would lean forward and claim his lips as my own.

All this time and I never bothered to research the dead man I had fallen for. I was afraid of what I could find.

It was always better for me to imagine.

I sighed at the painting, the window Levi sat beside had the most beautiful view. Right beside the beach, the waves rolling up to kiss the sand right beside his home. The morning sun was warming his milky skin, peeking through the window and greeting him with its heat. I wanted to sit across from him, sip our tea together and watch the world wake up alongside us. Thinking of the life I could never have with Levi made me feel free. Free from the darkness within my mind, free from the stress of life and unforgiving thoughts that would never let me rest. The one thing I craved the most. Freedom from myself.

“Why can’t I be with you?” I asked to the painting, my longing too strong to keep contained.

I turned away from the painting, rolling my eyes at myself, such a fool. Falling in love with a painting. I would finish my last walk around the area, go back to my office, and play on my phone until my shift was up. Then I’d go back to my small apartment, crawl into my bed, and lay there until sleep could take over.

“Well, come on then.”

I jumped, my flashlight falling out of my grip and falling to the ground. It rolled behind me, back to the area I just left. If someone snuck in here with me I needed the fucking light.

I threw myself to the ground, crawling toward where the light had rolled to. Just under Levi’s painting. I could get into a lot of shit for crawling under the red ropes that protected the painting from guests attempting to touch the delicate paint, but I needed that damn light.

Once I got the flashlight I crawled back away from the ropes, then stood and aimed the light around the area. I had an alarm in my pocket, something I could trigger if someone were to break in.

“Behind you.”

It was hard not to scream, the voice whispered in my ear. I jumped around, ready to trigger the alarm and try to fight whoever dared come into the museum after hours. Only no one was there.

I spun again, my light reaching out far past my ability to see in the darkness. I could find no one.

I turned back to painting again, and I swear my heart stopped beating.

Levi’s mug was sitting on the table, the rim wet from being sipped, steam still rising but not in Levi’s grip like usual. His window was opened, the ocean breeze slipping through the open space and brushing over my cheeks and through my hair. I could hear the waves as they crashed along the shore, smell the salt from the water, almost taste it on my tongue it was so close.

Levi was facing me fully, his chair turned with his arms crossed over his chest.

And finally.

Finally.

The smile I dreamed of graced his lips.

He glanced behind himself, to the waiting water and the sun that was lifting higher into the sky. When he looked back to me he looked refreshed, like he had been waiting for this.

For me.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked, his hand reaching out for mine.

“I must be losing my fucking mind,” I mumbled and reached forward, taking his hand and letting him pull me into the painting.

“No,” Levi replied with a chuckle, his breath teasing over my ear as he pulled me through completely. “You’re finally free.”


End file.
